Musk Says He's a "Former" Trillionaire as SpaceX Plunge Cuts Wealth in Half

As the shares of SpaceX and Tesla continue to tumble, the fortune of Elon Musk, who leads both companies, has been cut in half in about a month.

According to Forbes on the morning of the 27th local time, Musk's net worth was estimated at $695.7 billion, which is approximately 1,019 trillion won.

This is about half of his record peak of $1.45 trillion, or roughly 2,125 trillion won, set on June 16 when share prices soared following SpaceX's public offering.

This marks the first time in seven months since December 18 of last year that Musk's wealth has fallen below $700 billion.

Musk had been riding high after claiming the title of humanity's first "trillionaire," but recent stock declines at SpaceX and Tesla have forced him to relinquish the title.

In response, Musk recently posted a self-deprecating message on X, calling himself a "'former' trillionaire."

The sharp drop in SpaceX's share price is cited as the primary cause for the decline in wealth.

According to MarketWatch, SpaceX shares fell 4% from the previous trading day's close that morning, dropping to an all-time low of $108.66 per share.

This is not only about 20% lower than its IPO price of $135, but also a 52% plunge compared to its intraday high of $225.64 last month.

The downward pressure was compounded by an incident on the 24th during the 13th test flight of the massive Starship rocket, when the first-stage Super Heavy booster struggled with an engine reignite and crashed heavily into the ocean.

Additionally, the market expects that the company's first earnings report since its IPO on August 4 and the expiration of the lock-up period for insider-held shares on August 6 could fuel further declines.

Investors are also concerned that despite Musk's grand futuristic promises ranging from a Martian colony to space data centers, Starlink satellite communications remains the only business model generating steady profits so far.

David Meier, a senior analyst at The Motley Fool, explained, "Investors may have examined the financial statements and concluded that SpaceX is excessively risky."

Tesla, Musk's electric vehicle company, has also seen its stock slide day after day as it posted earnings that fell short of market expectations.

Tesla shares dropped 15% after its second-quarter earnings announcement on the 23th, and extended their losses to trade at $307.92 per share that morning.

Consequently, Tesla's stock has tumbled 30% since the beginning of the year, erasing all of its gains from the past year.

Although Tesla's vehicle sales increased, price cuts and rising operating expenses caused net income to drop 5% year-on-year to $1.114 billion.

This fell well short of the market consensus estimate of $1.3 billion.

On this day, Deutsche Bank lowered its price target for Tesla from $465 to $420.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.